TV Show Recounts Man's Struggle With Pedophile

A Winter Haven man has returned for the first time in 27 years to Chain of Lakes Park , where he was abused as a child by a Boston Red Sox clubhouse manager.

By RYAN E. LITTLETHE LEDGER

WINTER HAVEN | A Winter Haven man has returned for the first time in 27 years to Chain of Lakes Park , where he was abused as a child by a Boston Red Sox clubhouse manager.Leeronnie Ogletree has shared his story with cable television host Lisa Ling for her show "Lisa Ling's Our America." Ling's topic on the show airing Tuesday is children molested by coaches.Ogletree, 49, said that as a child, he would sneak away from his Winter Haven home to watch the Red Sox at the ballpark. "Little did I know that one of the world's most notorious pedophiles is watching me too," Ogletree said. He said that he eventually was invited into the clubhouse with his "heroes" and was sexually abused by clubhouse manager Donald Fitzpatrick on his first day inside.Ogletree, 10 at the time, said he kept the abuse a secret in exchange for access to players."When I was invited to come down and meet some of the players, it blew me away," Ogletree said. "And then by him bringing me into the clubhouse and introducing me to Hall-of-Famers, Ted Williams and everybody, and them telling me I could be one of the greatest ballplayers ever, I chose to stay with baseball versus tell my parents."The episode, "Predator in the Clubhouse," airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. on the Oprah Winfrey Network. It also tells the stories of a California woman who was sexually abused by two of her teachers, including her female gym teacher, and Charles Crawford of Boston, who said he, too, was abused by Fitzpatrick.The episode chronicles Olgetree's life as a young boy, his quest later in life to bring Fitzpatrick to justice, and his efforts to help young children protect themselves from other pedophiles. The episode was shot in Winter Haven in December.Ogletree recently has founded the Leeronnie Ogletree Abused Kids Foundation and said he hopes to speak to groups of families to inform parents and their children of the risks and signs of abuse, and to not keep abuse a secret, as he did."If I would have brought this home to my parents, my mom would have immediately called the cops. But I chose to hide what was happening to me for the love of the game of baseball," Ogletree said.As an adult, Ogletree worked with police to secure a secretly taped confession that led to charges against Fitzpatrick, who pleaded guilty to attempted sexual battery. In 2002, Fitzpatrick received a 10-year suspended sentence and 15 years' probation. A year later, the Red Sox reached a $3.15 million settlement with seven men who had been abused as children by Fitzpatrick.Fitzpatrick died at age 76 in 2005.Ogletree said he still has trouble accepting the lenient sentence."It's sickening to think that here it is only 10 years ago that you can walk out of a courtroom with capital crimes," Ogletree said."I screamed ... I remember hollering and screaming, ‘How could you do this?' They asked me if I would go along with this. I said no."Ling said the episode is an important story for families and one of the most important she has done in her show's four seasons. "I think this will help parents better prepare for what to look for with their own kids and their own families," Ling said. "Over 90 percent of sexual abusers are people the families know."It seems like only a few days go by when we aren't hearing about sex abuse involving children. Very rarely do we get an opportunity to know what life is like for these kids when they reach adulthood. For us, it was important to get a sense of what it's like for these kids down the road."Ogletree said he has just recently gotten to a point where he can move forward, but he wants to help other people on an international level."Where I see myself 10 years from now is working with world leaders on child abuse," Ogletree said. "This is something that, when you have an epidemic, a crisis, all world leaders work together."This is something that all world leaders have got to work to come back to put a stop to it."I'm dedicating the rest of my life to preventing this from happening."